California Braces for Next ‘Atmospheric River’ of Rain

California is bracing for another major winter rainstorm this week, which will bring much-needed relief to the drought-stricken state — as well as potential flooding.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The Bay Area started off the week with wet weather and will see dry conditions Tuesday only to be followed by a dynamic storm in the mid-week. This procession of storms will hit the Bay Area with more rain and gusty winds into the weekend.

The next powerful storm is strengthening in the Pacific Ocean. The American weather model, GFS (Global Forecast System), shows a system with the potential makings to become a “bombogenesis cyclone” — a low pressure system that quickly strengthens due to a sudden drop in pressure. This low will aid in the transport of a band of saturated moisture — an atmospheric river.

…

The storm will bring moderate to heavy rainfall. There’s a flood watch for the Bay Area starting late Tuesday night through Thursday afternoon. The ground is saturated from last weekend’s New Year’s Eve storm, so flooding potential is a great concern. The heaviest rainfall will occur Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. Roads in low lying areas will be quick to flood. Soaked soil will cause quick runoff into streams and creeks, many of which already overflowed during the New Year’s Eve storm.

After predictions of a dry La Niña winter, portending a third year of drought, the rain is a welcome reminder that weather forecasts are attached to some degree of probability that can be upended by unforeseen factors.

A storm on New Year’s Eve caused flooding in the San Francisco — so much so that the city’s drainage system was overloaded, causing spectacular (and messy) “sewer geysers” to erupt in some neighborhoods. Officials are warning of more of the same.

Rain is expected as well in Southern California, as the Los Angeles Times notes:

In Los Angeles, where heavy rain fell on New Year’s Eve, forecasters expected light rain on Monday afternoon, totaling a quarter to half an inch.

But then “attention really shifts to the Wednesday, Thursday storm, which looks like it’s going to be the strongest of the season,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

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“Damaging winds and flooding would be the main concerns with this particular system,” Sweet said. “It’s going to be a challenging couple of days.”

It remains to be seen how much of an impact these storms have on the drought, but snow conditions in the Sierra Nevada mountain range are already at the nation’s best for ski resorts, suggesting ample spring runoff.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.